Bob McCarty Writes

As chief blogger at Bob McCarty Writes, I’ve been invited to appear today as a guest on the BBC Radio program, World Have Your Say, which airs at Noon Central in the United States. The primary topic of discussion in the forum-style program will be the cases of the so-called “Haditha Marines”, including Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich, the Marine interviewed for a CBS’ 60 Minutes program which airs Sunday at 6 p.m. Central.

I won’t be surprised if I turn out to be the only pro-Marines voice on the program. It won’t be the first time I’ve stood up for the minority point of view. It’s the least I can do for Wuterich and his fellow Marines who face possible courts-martial for their roles in the combat-related killings of several Iraqi citizens, including women and children.

In this case, if given the opportunity, I plan to point out several facts about the case:

• These Marines performed as they were trained;

• They didn’t cut corners;

• They didn’t escalate the situation; and

• They weren’t the first to deal with this unconventional warfare situation in the manner in which they did.

On the last point, I think it’s critical that people know war is ugly and Marines are forced to confront life-and-death decisions on a daily — if not an hourly — basis in Iraq.

Other points I hope to make include:

• Insurgents often “play dead” in an effort to lure American troops into a trap or within the blast range of a bomb;

• They mount offensives from within hospitals, mosques and schools, knowing that any retaliatory action by U.S. forces can be used to their advantage in the battle for hearts and minds (a.k.a., “the news media”); and, finally

• The Haditha incident was substantially similar to several previous incidents with the only difference being that the liberal anti-war crowd, working in tandem with members of the news media and Democrats in Congress, has swayed public opinion to the point that U.S. efforts in Iraq are being compared, albeit erroneously, to those 30-plus years earlier in Vietnam.

You can hear the broadcast — again, it’s at Noon Central today — by visiting the World Have Your Say web site and clicking on the “Listen Live” button on the right side of the page.

Also, you can support Marines everywhere through the following organizations:

Marine/Iraq Legal Defense Fund

and

Thomas More Law Center

In addition, you can support Bob McCarty Writes by purchasing products from The Bob McCarty Shop.